SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 06, 2012 -- Sequenta, Inc. announced today that SWOG has selected Sequenta's LymphoSIGHT(TM) platform for the measurement of Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) in a clinical trial.

The SWOG S1106 Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL) trial, a cooperative group phase II clinical trial which incorporates Sequenta's technology, will recruit more than 180 patients across multiple participating clinical sites. All patients in the trial will undergo testing for MRD during treatment and for up to three years of clinical follow up.

"Sequenta's technology has the potential to deliver unprecedented sensitivity to detect residual disease after treatment," said study coordinator Steven H. Bernstein of University of Rochester Medical Center. "With this technology we will be able to develop and test new clinical paradigms for early intervention in those patients at greatest risk of early relapse."

The clinical trial, whose primary goal is to study the effectiveness of induction chemotherapy treatments before an autologous stem cell transplant, will help to validate the role of MRD in predicting time to progression in lymphoma.

All patients in the trial will be followed using Sequenta's LymphoSIGHT(TM) platform over the length of the trial. Sequenta will perform sequencing analysis on peripheral blood and bone marrow samples from the study. In addition, imaging studies will be used to measure disease progression.

"The selection of our LymphoSIGHT(TM) platform for use in this trial represents a significant step toward making our technology the clinical standard for sensitive MRD detection," said Sequenta CEO Tom Willis. "We look forward to seeing the platform launched commercially in 2013."

The LymphoSIGHT(TM) method utilizes a proprietary assay for the amplification and sequencing of immunoglobulin and T cell receptors, enabling ultra sensitive detection and monitoring of T and B cells. The platform leverages the power of next generation sequencing to detect individual B cells at levels as low as one cell per million white blood cells using a universal reagent set and routinely available blood samples. Previous results using the LymphoSIGHT(TM) platform have shown significantly improved sensitivity to detect residual disease compared to flow cytometry, with greatly improved workflows over current real time PCR assays.

SWOG (formerly the Southwest Oncology Group) aligns more than 4,000 physician researchers at more than 500 institutions to design and conduct large-scale clinical trials. It is one of the five cooperative groups that together comprise the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) National Clinical Trials Network.

About Sequenta, Inc. Sequenta is a venture backed startup dedicated to improving patient care in diseases mediated by immune cells through measurements of lymphocyte diversity. It is commercializing its LymphoSIGHT(TM) platform for clinical use in Minimal Residual Disease while continuing to validate the use of its technology in a diverse set of diseases. For more information, go to www.sequentainc.com .